I’ve mentioned earlier the study involving sending MBAs to India, and the common denigration they receive in our culture. This isn’t a mere matter of counter-cultural hostility to capitalism and business, since their subordinates “in the trenches” often feel they have more domain knowledge* while their ignorant Dilbert-esque “pointy-haired” bosses screw things up. The founders of Google apparently shared that view, at least before their empiricist side led them to realize that was a mistake.
*There is a contrary view where the primary added value of management is the skills they impart to their subordinates, and I may have linked to a study on that but can’t find it now.

There might seem to be a bit of a contrast between this post and the one on “The Collapse of Complex Society” and its section on the wasteful growth of administration. I believe that to be a very real phenomena (particularly outside the for-profit sector), just as I can believe that firefighters provide a valuable service even if there are too many of them.

I had planned on having a more substantive post by last night, but I keep procrastinating rather than working on it. All are encouraged to berate.

UPDATE: More from Slate on the scope for managerial improvement in other countries.